In the Dark of the Night
by Ammendiana
Summary: Very short, oneshot vignette. HeeroRelena.


In the Dark of the Night

By: Lady Angharad

The world seemed cold and dark as Heero stalked the garden like a predatory cat. His lean, muscular form glided over the gravel paths that lay between the fiery hydrangeas and sterling lavender roses. Unfamiliar compulsion drove him through the night, ruling him as slave is ruled by master. His helplessness when it came to desire drove him mad.

Almost.

Moonlight cast weak shadows on the ground as he came closer to that which held the object of his unwilling desire. It pulled upon his psyche like a magnet.

His long black coat flickered around his ankles as he walked on, coming ever closer to her balcony, whose French doors were invitingly open even though the interior was dark. A rose trellis rose from the ground, up past the second floor balcony and into the deeper darkness that the shadow of the eaves cast on the white sides of the mansion until you could not see where it ended.

Heero was only interested in the bottom half, at any rate.

Like a cat, he crawled up the trellis and made almost no noise, even though splinters slid into his skin and thorns scored it. Tiny rivulets of blood ran down his arms and legs by the time he was high enough to haul himself over the balcony with any amount of ease.

To his surprise, she was there. Her slender, feminine form, clothed in black silk, rested on top of the silvery satin sheets, making her look much older and less innocent.

Then again, he realized with unexpected surprise, they _were _older.

Her long, golden hair was spread out on the sheets and her pale skin radiated the moonlight like porcelain. She looked so perfect at that moment that Heero was reluctant to disturb her.

Gathering his strength, he slid over to the side of the bed and looked down at her beautiful face with longing. He loved and hated the way she made him vulnerable. With her he was without armor.

He reached down to touch her skin, but stopped. Doubts sprang into his vulnerable mind, and his natural determination was undermined by a rushing river of 'what if's.' He drew his hand back to his body with a nearly inaudible sigh and turned to walk away.

"Don't you think for a moment that you're going to leave without talking to me, Heero Yuy," her rich whisper said in the darkness.

He stopped and turned, "I didn't want to wake you."

She sat up in the bed and looked over at him. Her face was a mystery in the darkness, but he could imagine her piercing blue eyes looking through his soul like an open book. Her pale skin stood out in sharp contrast to the black silk of her sleek nightdress, and he could see a hint of cleavage in the darkness.

She had changed more that he expected. But desire filled him and he gasped for air, wanting her more than he ever wanted to.

"You were afraid to wake me, you mean."

"Unh." He grunted without commitment.

A husky laugh caressed his ears.

"You always were the eloquent one, Heero."

Heero turned again, and said simply, "I think I'll leave now."

She was either faster than he thought or she had gotten up as soon as he turned, anticipating his movements, because she appeared by his side and was grasping his arm firmly with one white hand.

"You are not going to leave me this time."

He looked into her beloved face, seeing clearly her ocean blue eyes, pale skin and golden hair. Her face was filled with pain and longing. He imagined that his was too.

"I think I should..." He whispered, "But I don't think I will."

Relena smiled then, and her smiled touched his soul with sunshine and fire.

"Why do you always come back to me, Heero?" She asked him quietly, still not letting go of his arm.

"Do you really want to know?"

She nodded.

"I always come back because...Relena, you're the first person I have ever known who had never really been afraid of me. You have always trusted me."

She said nothing.

Heero, sensing that the mood was becoming too somber, continued on. "Also, it could be because I'm so in love with you that I get pulled towards you no matter how far away from you I am. I'm perfectly willing to throw you on that bed and do really dirty things to you to prove it."

Another husky laugh. Another question.

"What's stopping you?"

And, with that invitation, Heero pulled her into his arms and kissed her with all of the desire that had been building up in him all the time he had been away from her.

"Right now, a thin black silk nightdress."

Relena looked up at his unreadable face and murmured with a trace of naughtiness, "Come on Heero, want to feel my bed? It's really soft." She pulled him towards it, eyes wide with contrived innocence.

"Why don't I? I'm really quite tired." He yawned dramatically.

Relena laughed and, pushing him onto the bed, whispered seductively, "I'm sure you will be."

Relena woke up as the sun began to shine into her French doors, which still stood open to the air and the summer. Heero was laying down behind her, and she could feel the warmth of his body under the satin sheets. He wrapped an arm around her waist under the covers and nestled his face against her hair with an adorable whimper. Content, Relena felt her eyes close once more, only to find herself awake again seemingly seconds later. But the sun no longer shone directly in her window, so she could assume that it was getting close to noon.

Then she realized that Heero was no longer in the bed with her. Panic filled her. Had he just up and left after what they had shared? She felt used and hurt as she wrapped herself up in the silvery satin and walked onto the balcony.

Relief filled her as she saw that he was climbing up the trellis. He hopped over the railing with an ease that would almost seem practiced. In his hand he held a bouquet of sterling lavender roses, pilfered from the garden--she guessed--only minutes before.

Relena took the bouquet into her hands and cradled it as if it were the most precious thing she had ever possessed.

"I though you had left me...I thought..." she started to sob, and tears ran down her face to drip into the depths of the roses.

She felt his arms around her and his comforting whispers filled her ears.

He said nothing. He just gathered her into his long arms and held her shaking body in a tight embrace.

She looked up at him, at that face that was so precious to her, and whispered, "If you ever leave me, I swear I will hunt you down and kill you."

Heero reached up to cup her pointed chin in his hand and whispered back, "I would expect no less of you."

And then he kissed her, and she knew that he was telling the truth.


End file.
